ASHEVILLE — Daphne Cave saw a gap in the Asheville child care landscape, though it's probably a different one than you'd think.

Cave next month plans to open Kids Garden, a drop-in learning center for children, on South Tunnel Road in Asheville. The facility, like its two other locations in the region, focuses on short-term child care, offering a buffet of activities for children up to four hours a day.

Cave, a nurse by trade, calls the concept "play care" as opposed to the more traditional day care construct, which she argues gives parents flexibility in their schedules.

"I do see it as filling a gap, but it’s more for the parents that need that spontaneity," she said. "Maybe they can't find a babysitter or maybe another one of their children gets sick and needs a place to take a sibling or Mom works all day with a child and needs a minute to unwind?"

The facility accepts up to 30 children starting at 12 months and ranging up to age 12. Once a child is registered with Kids Garden, it has membership and nonmembership packages for parents and children with rates beginning at $12 an hour.

Kids Garden also has an array of activities for children from kids yoga to eco-art to Lego learning sessions, varied to accommodate different age groups.

It is the brand's first North Carolina location, set to open its doors Nov. 6. It has two others in South Carolina, including one in Charleston, where Cave assisted on the artistic design, as well as a facility in Colorado.

Cave said Kids Garden is ideal for short-term stays, if only to give parents and guardians a break during the day.

She added, however, that it is not filling in for the full-time child care dilemma, which has been well-publicized for years in Buncombe County.

The Southwestern Child Development Commission told the Citizen-Times last year that day care agencies in Asheville are reporting a 1 percent vacancy rate, similar to the vacancy rate of the area's rental housing units. It has caused long wait times — sometimes between 18 months and two years — to land a child in a state-licensed center. It can, in turn, lead parents to turn to less safe or less reliable options.

Drop-in options for parents also can be fairly sparse. Arguably the closest in scope to Kids Garden is the YWCA of Asheville, which has pay-by-the-hour child care as well as several other early childhood education programs.

Cave said she loved the concept from when she painted a mural three years ago in the Charleston, South Carolina location, particularly as it is unique in Asheville.

"We are working hard to get this center open," she said. "My husband and I, he’s also a woodworker, and I’m also a muralist, so we’re trying to make it a magical place for children to come."

More information

Kids Garden will open its doors at 4 South Tunnel Road in suite No. 700 in Asheville, in a shopping center across from the Asheville Mall. Ahead of its opening, it will host a open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on site, complete with arts and crafts, live music and raffles throughout the day.

It is scheduled to be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays.

Additional information on Asheville's Kids Garden is available online at kidsplaygarden.com, at Facebook.com/KidsGardenAVL or by phone at 828-417-7310.